Samsung pledges to improve Galaxy S20 camera after reviewers see issues

Samsung has responded to some issues that early reviewers have found with the camera system on the new Galaxy S20 Ultra. The company says it’s working on an update to improve the camera, though it doesn’t acknowledge any specific problem or confirm when the fixes will be available.

We have seen the issues ourselves with both focus hunting and overbearing skin smoothing. Our review will be posted soon.

“The Galaxy S20 features a groundbreaking, advanced camera system,” Samsung says in a statement to The Verge. “We are constantly working to optimize performance to deliver the best experience for consumers. As part of this ongoing effort, we are working on a future update to improve the camera experience.”

Reviews from publications including PC Mag and Input have highlighted that the autofocus system is unreliable, often taking a long time to lock onto a subject and sometimes failing to do so. We’re still putting the finishing touches on the Verge review, but we can confirm that we’ve found the same. The camera also exhibits aggressive image processing in certain situations, with a tendency to excessively smooth out skin.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra’s camera system is one of its main selling points, including a huge 108-megapixel sensor and a periscope telephoto lens that Samsung pitches as being usable at up to 100x zoom. Stay tuned for our review tomorrow to see how it all works out in practice — at least, how it works right now.